Ultra Electronics wins sonobuoy contract extension with Royal Navy

Ultra Electronics has won a £9.5m contract extension to supply its anti-submarine sonobuoys to the Royal Navy's Merlin Maritime Patrol Helicopter, releasing some of the £100m of pent-up orders delayed from the last financial year.

The contract between Ultra and the UK Ministry of Defence will cover supply of the buoys throughout 2017 and sonobuoy engineering, manufacture, logistics and support.

Ultra's February results had disappointed the market somewhat due to the delay into 2016 of over £100m of orders, most of which were expected to be secured in the first half of the year, including the UK sonobuoy partnering.

Sonobuoys are air-launched acoustic sensor buoys, with Ultra's range spanning environmental, passive, active, and multi-static sonobuoys.

Ultra said the contract ensured the Royal Navy maintained a persistent anti-submarine warfare surveillance capability against hostile submarines.

"It also allows Ultra to support future technology capability insertion and international collaboration," Ultra said.

Chief executive Rakesh Sharma said: "This continues to be a significant opportunity for Ultra, demonstrating the group's ability to supply and support cutting edge, affordable and value for money solutions to the Royal Navy. We look forward to continuing to work with the DE&S team."